The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-01-15
ROBERT EVAN SPROUL
HANGED AT yICrORIA, BRITISH
COLUMBIA,
Is now Proven 90 have been an In
nOcent Man-An FxtraOrs
dinaTy story.

OTTAWA, ONT, January Is For the
six months preceding this 20. day OF
September, 1885. there was throughout
Britt h Columbia, and, indeed,
throughout the Dominion OF Canada.
the z estest interest felt In the case OF
Evan SpToul, then under sentence OF
deat h at Victoria, d. O., for murder.
1t WAS a case OF life or death with the
accused, and being an American citi-
Z3n, and that government being i'm
pressed with his innocence, taking
every possible legal action to prevent
the hanging OF the col dem de1, tended
tc create more than orjinsry interes,
In each sep Of the proceedings which
were then going on. Rjbsrt Evan
spr1ul was q miner who had ro,,,ued
to Canada from KH- 'emovsu
~. He WAS the part owner
OF one of the richest mines in
the Kootenay District Of British
Columbia. On the 1st day OF January,
1885, ore Thomas Hammel, also
miner, and part owner OF the Sproul
claim, was killed, and suspicion
polluted to the accused Sproul as the
guilty man. He was aTested and
charged with the ofiense, but stoutly
maintained his innocence, and on his
trial, which was had at Victoria, b. O.,
endeavored to prove an alibi, but
failed. After the trial, his counsel
alleged certain irregularities in the
hearinV, among which was the nom
descrl ton Of the court, but the
Provincial Supreme Court sustained
the decision OF the lower court On
tbs 80 day OF May, 1885, on the appli-
cation o. the prisoners counsel, an
order nisi for A wnt o. babsa, corpus,
or, in the alternative, for the discharge
of the prisoner, was granted by the
Hon. justice Henry, Of the Dominion
Supreme Court, aud after elaboration
Judgment was pronounced by him d.
re ting the issue Of a writ OF habeas
corpus, directed to the Sheriff for
Vancouver Island, calling upon him
to produce the prisoner, together with
tbs cause OF his detention. The
Sheriff refused to obey the writ
and on the I'd day of An.
gust, 1885, an application was
made for The discharge OF the
prisoner, on the ground that the
Sheriff had not obey ed the writ. After
hearing argument thereon, Mr.. JUS
tics Henry ordered the unconditional
discharge Of the prisoner. Five re.
sptts were granted the condemned
man by the government, and at last
he wss ha gtd By the order Of the
MiUister OF Justice, who refu ed to
ia Q fsIe, although urged 10 do 80 by
Mayor Fell and some 500 residents OF
Victoria, as we'll as by the Secretary OF
State Of the United State'. After the
trial, the chief witness for the prose-
cutiln, one Charles Wolf, de an
afiid svit in due form that the evidence
given by him at the tlil was false,
aud the American Consul at Wet oriA
reported to the Lieutenant Governor
OF British Columbia that after the IN
vestigation he believed the prisoner 10
be innocent. Not aiths'audlng the or.
der Of the higheet court Ia Canada,
Sproul vas banged on the 18th Ct Sep.
temb r. He maintained his innocence
Uu NlO kh 1--WE WV a NtNhtto Nublu
he could MT procure on his trial has
turned up Ia Sn Franoisco, and in
order to safety ths relatives OF
Sproul that hs had been hanged
for crime OF which he was inno.
cent, Beatty went before a Judge Of
competent jurisdiction and made an
sfiidsvlt that he wss with SpToul frl m
8 o'clock in the evening e the 3lst Of
NAV, 1885, until $3.50 # the night fol-
loving, snd moreover, that they were
at least fifteen miles from the scene OF
he crime. As the murder was COM
mitted bsiwesn these nous, accord
ing TO the prosecution, this dispos 8 Of
the thtofy that thu &C used Sproul did
the deed. The sfii iAvit has been fled
here with the Secretary Of State. Act
ing on the advies OF council, Frank
Sproul, q brother Of dsce s d and ad-
ministIator OF his estate, has begun
action agtius. tbs Province Of British
90 umbia for $4,000 damages on &C.
count tf The illegal hanging Of the &C
cused. 0ne strange thing in connec.
ton with the affair Is that four days
before the execution friend OF the
pritoner died in Boston bsqueathing
him 100000, which was not made
known TO the condemned man until
he walked into the Rallows.